Saskatoon’s Mayor says waste collection will be funded through user fees, a utility, based on the size of bin that a home chooses but curbside organics will now fall under property taxes. Although in the lead up to council making a decision, the mayor had said garbage collection, paid for through property taxes, was chronically underfunded.
Charlie Clark says the utility model will give the chance, for waste, to resolve the chronic under funding. He notes it gives the increased diversion which reduces the pressure on the landfill.
The Mayor says it does create more fairness with garbage collection between the commercial/ industrial sector and residential, but the organics program will still have some subsidy from commercial and multi families because it is funded through property tax.
Mayor Clark feels the formula being used by the city, after being approved by City Council Monday, is the best balance they could find to fund a pay as you throw garbage collection and a new organics program. The next step is a request for proposals for an organics processor and they also need to determine how to deal with collections and purchase bins so it will take till 2020 to roll it all out.
